Keenan: Too much sugar can lead to emotional plunge for men

The average Canadian is downing 26 teaspoons of sugar per day, while the American Heart Association recommends no more than nine teaspoons of sugar per day for men, and six for women.Tim Smith, Special to the SUN

I’m a health survey addict. You know, the ones that ask you questions and then give you an incentive like a few pennies worth of AIR MILES or a free magazine subscription. Of course, as a privacy freak, I often invent the answers to conceal my real identity. Things like checking that I am a guy with diabetes (I’m not) then stating that’s it’s “gestational diabetes” which would mean I’m pregnant. Sort that out, you survey bots.

Recently I did an online survey for a carbohydrate-laden food and was asked why I consumed it. One of the options presented was “to elevate my mood.” Most people believe that eating a sugary treat will give you an emotional boost, but new research shows that, at least for men, quite the opposite may be true in the longer term.

Researchers led by Anika Knüppel, of the Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London, crunched a bunch of data about sugary diets and depression and found a surprising, male-only link between the two.

Their key finding was that men who consumed more than 67 grams of sugar daily were more likely to develop common mental disorders like depression and anxiety five years down the line. To put that number in perspective, the Coca-Cola Company’s website says “that there are 35 grams of sugar in a 330 mL can of Coca-Cola classic.” Add on a couple Tim Hortons Canadian Maple Donuts at 16 grams of sugar each, and it’s easy to hit 67 grams even before you arrive at work.

Sugar and depression are important because, as the researchers write, “In Britain, adults consume approximately double, and in the U.S. triple, the recommended level of added sugar … with sweet foods and drinks contributing three-quarters of the intake. Meanwhile, major depression is predicted to become the leading cause of disability in high-income countries by 2030.”

The scientists take some stabs at explaining why they saw this effect in men but not in women. They suggest that “the results might reflect differences in pathways of depression by sex and type of depressive symptomatology.”

There may also a genetic component at work here. A nerve growth factor called BDNF has been shown to have an antidepressant effect in animals. Researchers at the Department of Psychiatry of Radboud University in the Netherlands analyzed a genetic variation in humans called the Val66Met polymorphism (single nucleotide polymorphism rs6265), which is linked to BDNF production. They found a significant correlation between Val66Met and major depressive disorder (MDD), but only in men. They concluded that “our results suggest that the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism is of greater importance in the development of MDD in men than in women.”

The day may come when your doctor will order up a genetic analysis and then give you specific health or dietary advice based on it. Until then, you’ll need to use some common sense, which seems to be rather uncommon when it comes to sugar. The average Canadian eats 40 kilos of the stuff per year, according to Statistics Canada. Canadian teenage boys consume an astounding 63 kilos per year, most of it in sugary drinks.

Speaking in teaspoons, the average Canadian is downing 26 teaspoons of sugar per day, while the American Heart Association recommends no more than nine teaspoons of sugar per day for men, and six for women.

If the risk of obesity, tooth decay and future mental health problems don’t turn you off excessive sugar, perhaps your sperm can convince you. Researchers at Queens University Belfast analyzed semen samples from young men at a local fertility clinic. They found abnormal DNA in the sperm of 52 per cent of the men with Type I diabetes, versus 32 per cent in the non-diabetic control group. They believe the same is true for Type II diabetes, and attribute the DNA damage to free radicals produced by surges in blood sugar levels.

You’d think that you could monitor your nutrition just by reading product labels, but it’s not that easy. While there are “% Daily Value” numbers for nutrients like Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron, and even fat, that percentage column is conspicuously blank for sugars. This is because Health Canada hasn’t set a Daily Value, so food manufacturers don’t have to put anything there. There’s also inconsistency, with some breads quoting the sugar in one slice, and others for a more usual serving of two slices.

The good news is that new Canadian food labelling standards have been announced to improve consistency and legibility. They will also require a percentage value for sugar. There’s even discussion of putting warning labels on the front of packages saying things like “high in sugar.” The food and retail industries are pushing back on this, and the debate is ongoing. We’ll have to wait awhile for really good labelling in Canada as well as the U.S., which has given manufacturers until 2020 to comply with its new label rules.

For now, you’ll have to do your own nutrition detective work and sugar calculations. Since cutting down on excessive sugar may benefit your entire body, from your brain to your spermatozoa, it’s well worth the effort.

Tom Keenan is an award-winning journalist, public speaker, professor in the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary, and author of the bestselling book, Technocreep, (www.technocreep.com).

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